Smart and Affordable farming solutions

13 July 2016. Brussels. This Briefing was organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with the European Commission, the the European Commission / DEVCO, the ACP Secretariat, CONCORD, CEMA, Agricord and the PanAfrican Farmer’s Organisation (PAFO).

Panel 1: Setting the scene: Drivers of smart-farming in Africa
This panel discussed the available tools and approaches in support of smart-farming which can benefit the smallholders. It will also discuss public-private partnerships (PPPs) and multi-stakeholder alliances that aim at accelerating investments and transformative change in African agriculture.

• Smart-farming: trends and new opportunities benefiting small-holders; Josef Kienzle, Expert, Equipment and Institutions/Agro-Industries, Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries. Division (AGST), FAO [presentation|video]
• Connecting your farm: the future of Precision Agriculture in Africa; Louisa Parker, Manager Institutional Funding and Stakeholder Relations Africa and Middle EastAdvanced Technology Solutions AGCO Corporation (AGCO) [presentation|video]
• Contribution of unmanned aerial systems to precision farming; Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Coordinator ICT, CTA; Damien van Eeckhout, Head of International Business Development, Airinov [presentation|video]
• Smart farming: a priority for farmers in Africa; Theo de Jager, President, Panafrican Farmers Organisation (PAFO) [presentation|video]

Panel 2: Scaling up successes in smart farming
This panel looked at specific examples of successful smart-farming applications at various levels. It will also show smart inclusive and sustainable PPPs.

• PPPs: Upscaling agribusiness successes in Africa; Chris Addison, Senior Coordinator, CTA; Stephen Muchiri, CEO, Eastern African Farmers Federation, Kenya [presentation|video]
• Proven successful smart-farming technologies: the case of Potato initiative Africa; Frank Nordmann, Grimme, Germany [presentation|video]
• Empowering women and youth through capacity building; Eric Kaduru, KadAfrica, Uganda [executive summary|video]
• Pooling forces: Machinery rings and cooperatives; Andreas Hastedt, Board member, German Association of Machinery Rings [presentation|video]

Programme and Background Note
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Photos
Biodata of the speakers